Ex-Spurs Star Blames Conte’s Tactics For Emerson’s “Stupid” Red Card

Dimitar Berbatov says Antonio Conte’s tactics played a part in Emerson’s sending off…

Former Spurs star Dimitar Berbatov blamed Antonio Conte’s tactics for Emerson Royal’s red card in Saturday’s north London derby, Optus Sport reports.

Berbatov, part of the Premier League’s punditry team for their international broadcast, claimed Emerson’s naughty tackle on Gabriel Martinelli was born out of frustration from having to defend deep the entire game.

Conte, as he usually does in each game, had Tottenham camped out at the edge of their box and waiting to exploit space on the counter-attack with their forward line.

However, due to our performance, they only had a short spell before half-time during which they looked remotely dangerous.

Speaking on Emerson’s dismissal, Berbatov said: “They were just defending with 10 men behind the ball.

“When you play Arsenal with the players they have, they are always going to find the space, pass the ball and have good opportunities, so I didn’t see the point.

“You don’t need to get into the emotion; the sending off maybe was a bit harsh, but it was because Emerson was getting annoyed because they didn’t touch the ball. They were just running behind the ball. After that, you want to kick someone. You need to be clever,” the Bulgarian added.

“… Sometimes if you’re not smart enough like in this case you are going to do the stupid thing. For me, that is a stupid challenge, honestly. It is not calculated. The ball is far away. He is just begging for a card.”

Berbatov’s take certainly has some validity and while the challenge came deep in our half, Martinelli is a menace to play against and one imagines that his compatriot wanted to leave one on him.

Either way, it was clearly a red card and considering that we’ve seen players sent off for far less, the debate surrounding it is bizarre.